Two FEMA grants obligated to St. John the Baptist Parish are earmarked for two schools that were severely flooded during Hurricane Isaac. The grants, which total $3.2 million, will go towards modular classroom units for East St. John High School students, and cleanup at the Reserve high school and Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School in LaPlace, which closed after being flooded by roughly 18 inches of water after the storm.

BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Steve Dennett, of DRYCO, makes his way through the flooded driveway at East St. John High School in Reserve Wednesday, September 5, 2012. The school was flooded during Hurricane Isaac.

The obligation includes two grants of $1.4 million and $1.8 million; the former will go towards the modular classrooms for the high school, which received between 5-8 inches of water, and the latter will pay for cleanup efforts at both campuses.

Isaac, which touched down on St. John on Aug. 28 and flooded vast swaths of the parish, ravaged both the high school and the elementary school campuses, displacing more than 2,000 students. East St. John High students have been relocated to temporary classrooms at the nearby Leon Godchaux Academy campus. But because space is limited, students have been attending school in five-hour shifts -- a system called "platooning" -- which would require classes to extend through the summer in order for all students to fulfill necessary instructional requirements.

FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Gerard M. Stolar said that the grants for additional classroom space will help the schools begin to move toward a more regular academic schedule.

"Getting closer to the regular academic calendar is an important part of recovery for the St. John district and community," Stolar said in a statement. "These funds will help the district recover costs for adding the temporary classroom space that will help students stay on schedule."

In fact, beginning next semester, in January, students are expected to return to regular school day schedules. The obligated funds are a portion of nearly $121.8 million in total Public Assistance recovery funds obligated to the state of Louisiana thus far for Isaac recovery.

These grants represent the first round of FEMA funding earmarked specifically for St. John schools, and do not include funds that will be applied to reconstruction; renovations could cost an estimated $45 million, according to St. John Schools Financial Director Felix Boughton, who said he expects East St. John High School to reopen with fresh renovations sometime next July. Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, on the other hand, may take significantly longer to reopen due to the nature of the damages its campus sustained.

"There's an extensive process cleaning up these schools. You have to dry out the school, open up the walls and assess the damage," Boughton said. St. John Schools have contracted with Service Master to conduct the cleanup. "The cleaning and vacuuming is a big deal."

Additionally, on Wednesday afternoon, the Louisiana Restaurant Association gifted East St. John High School with more than $5,500 worth of kitchen equipment, teaching resources and ProStart textbooks. The presentation took place at Godchaux Academy, the school's temporary location.